Malaysia

On our way over to Australia, we decided to stop off at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for 3 days, to break up the flight, see the city, and slowly adjust to the time difference. When we stepped off the plane, we came to realise just how muggy and humid the heat is, but luckily most places had air conditioning! The city of KL epitomises the phrase ‘Urban Jungle’ quite literally, with pockets of bright green trees breaking up the concrete streets and buildings, and climber plants covering the sides and rooftops of skyscrapers – it’s a beautiful example of how people and nature can thrive together and live in harmony.

There are a LOT of mosquitoes in KL, and there are some horrible diseases that can be caught there too, so make sure to invest in some insect repellent and keep yourself safe!

Transport

From the airport, we took a coach the hour long journey into the city centre itself, and then a taxi out to our accommodation (we were surviving on about 3 hours sleep by this point, at 6am with all of our luggage – there was no way we were going to walk!). The transport here, like most other things, was relatively cheap and easy to figure out, however the best by far was Grab. Grab Taxi is basically the same as Uber, in that you download the app to your phone and book taxis direct to you – they come within minutes and are much cheaper than flagging down a regular taxi. If you’re looking to visit KL then I would 100% recommend downloading it.

What to do

Patronas Towers – We didn’t actually pay to go inside and visit the viewing platform, as our accommodation was just around the corner and we were staying on the 39^th floor, so we had a pretty good view anyway. If you aren’t quite as lucky, then the view over the city from here is amazing, and is a great spot for some Instagram pics!

Batu Caves – If you’re going to visit the Batu Caves, which most people do in KL, just be prepared with appropriate clothing. In order to climb the steps and go to the temple at the top, you must have covered up shoulders and knees, and be dressed appropriately to enter the religious caves. If you do go unprepared, you can buy or rent scarves there to wrap around yourself so that you’re allowed up. There are loads of monkeys around the area, but are supposedly quite vicious and if they try and take anything from you, don’t try and fight them off or they bite! The whole experience feels quite touristy and dirty, as there are loads of coaches and cars parked around the bottom, and lots of gift shops/market stalls selling the same things – in my opinion, once you’ve seen it and got your photos, don’t hang around!

Eco Park Canopy Walk – If you have a few hours to kill and fancy a walk around the treetops in the middle of the city, this might be a nice trip for you. We didn’t end up going around it as it was our last day and we didn’t have enough cash (it wasn’t worth getting more out), but it costs around £7/£8 per person and on a beautiful day, you might get some good photos.

Kuala Lumpur Tower – The KL tower is one of their most recognised landmarks, and an Instagramable hotspot! The glass sky deck (glass sides and bottom) makes for some stunning views over the city, as well as jaw-dropping Insta pics.

Upside down house – Another great place for some Instagram pictures is the upside down house, situated at the base of the KL tower. The whole house is upside down, so you can get creative with some photos to look like you’re sat on the ceiling or doing flips in the air.

Dinner in the sky – This was quite a cool experience that you can do in loads of places around the world, but we sadly missed out on the one in London and so decided to take this opportunity to do it, and tick it off Scott’s bucket list. It’s effectively a large table that can fit roughly 20 people on it, that gets lifted 50m into the air by crane, and you sit and have a meal. There are loads of different options such as drinks, just dessert, 4 course meal with cocktails etc, but we chose the 3 course meal and paid around £70 each for an hour.

The water in Kuala Lumpur isn’t safe to drink, although some restaurants do boil the water and serve to you – be careful what you’re drinking.

Where to eat

Whilst in the city, we found two really amazing places to eat; the first being VCR Bangsar Cafe, where we had the best ‘Big Breakfast’. What made it so great is the unusual addition of lamb Bolognese – surprising, but revolutionary! They have a really quirky menu and a lovely rustic ‘hipster’ cafe, although some of their cold brew tea’s are interesting. The Masala Chai is incredible, as it’s like a really smooth, creamy Chai drink, however Houjicha tastes a bit like a milky cold green tea (take of that what you will…).

The second place that we found was Huckleberry Food and Fair. They have a really nice selection of pastries, coffees and cooked breakfasts, including the Roasted Aubergine Shakshuka – my recommendation – and the avocado smoothie. Just next door to Huckleberry is an English run sports pub called Sid’s Pub. It’s definitely the best place for sitting outside, drinking some beers and watching sport! We sat and watched the Wilder vs Fury fight here all afternoon, and it gets quite lively.

We have both said that now we’ve seen Kuala Lumpur, we wouldn’t be in any rush to come back again, but in future maybe we would explore other parts of the country and get out of the city! Shot glass number 13, done!